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Second replay review awards Nats decisive homer

7/2/14: The umpires review a fly ball in the 7th inning and overturn the call to a home run for Ian Desmond

By Daniel Popper
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MLB.com |

WASHINGTON -- Ian Desmond's go-ahead home run for the Nationals in the bottom of the seventh inning against the Rockies Wednesday night was originally in dispute.

With no one on base and two outs in a 3-3 tie, Desmond cranked a ball to right-center field that ricocheted off the railing above the wall and back into play. Drew Stubbs collected the ball in center field and threw it back into the infield as Desmond coasted into third base for what was ruled a triple.

"The way it bounced back hard like that, I kind of assumed it was over," Desmond said. "I thought it was gone, but I wasn't 100 percent sure."

The umpires convened and decided to conduct a Crew Chief Review to determine if Desmond's hit cleared the wall for a home run. After a review lasting 3 minutes, 42 seconds, the umpires overturned their initial call, ruling the hit a home run and giving the Nationals a 4-3 lead.

"The naked eye and running out and that ball being 400 feet away from somebody is not easy," manager Matt Williams said. "But that's why we have the system in place. So they have an opportunity to go take a second look at it, which they did."

Williams also challenged a call in the bottom of the second inning.

With the Nationals trailing, 3-0, and Ryan Zimmerman on first base, Bryce Harper ripped a ground ball down the first-base line. Justin Morneau made a spectacular scoop on one hop before tagging first for the force out and throwing to Troy Tulowitzki, who was covering second. The throw was low, but Tulowitzki picked it and tagged Zimmerman for a double play.

Williams disagreed with the call and challenged the ruling on the field that Tulowitzki had tagged Zimmerman in time. After a review lasting two minutes, 55 seconds, the umpires ruled that the call would stand.

Daniel Popper is an associate reporter for MLB.com. He also can be found on Twitter @danielrpopper. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.